Friday Forum

Karl Lieberman

Topic: Everything I Have To Say Is Stupid

Some things I’ve learned about working in advertising while I’ve been working in advertising.

Bio:

Karl Lieberman is the ECD and creative lead of Wieden + Kennedy, New York. Alongside his Managing Director partner Neal Arthur, they oversee the office’s 12 brands and 200+ employees.

Since graduating from the University of Delaware with a BFA degree in 1999, Lieberman has worked as both an art director and a copywriter. In 2006 he co-created “The Most Interesting Man in the World” campaign for Dos Equis with Brandon Henderson under Jeff Kling that ran for a decade and helped triple the brand’s business. In 2010 Lieberman penned and later creative directed the P&G “Thank You, Mom” Olympics campaign that won an Emmy in 2012 and has been named one of the most successful P&G Olympics marketing efforts of all time. In 2015 – in hopes of connecting a struggling brand back to its roots – Lieberman helped bring back “The Colonel” for Kentucky Fried Chicken in surprising and unusual ways that helped spark a strong turnaround for the brand leading to over 13 consecutive quarters of business growth.

Over the years, Lieberman has also worked on a variety of businesses that include Nike, Old Spice, Delta, Bud Light, ESPN, Jordan Brand, Yoplait, Target, Sirius, Sprite and Facebook while finding himself working alongside icons like Mark Zuckerberg, LeBron James and Howard Stern. Lieberman has won a handful of accolades over the years including Titanium, Gold, Silver and Bronze Cannes Lions, multiple Gold Effies for effectiveness, and his work has been added to the permanent collection of MoMA through the AICP multiple times. The work he has helped create has impacted culture and has been covered and referenced in every major media outlet including The New York Times, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Saturday Night Live, The Onion, The Daily Show, The Tonight Show, The Today Show, ESPN, Esquire and others. Since joining WKNY in January of 2016, Lieberman has helped bring new brands and business to the office including Spotify, Duracell, Lyft, The Atlantic, and FS1.